Umpiring May Bumps

[Luke Barratt]

*Captains please forward this message to your Clubs*

Dear all,

I hope you're all looking forward to the upcoming set of Bumps races, which of course cannot run without sufficient umpires. This is only the sixth set of Bumps since the pandemic saw the races cancelled*, so we still require a large proportion of those around with two more sets of Bumps under their belts to help out and umpire, so please do encourage members of your Clubs to sign up - especially if they're not rowing in the top four divisions.

Some carrots:

• Umpiring is a great way to get involved in the racing and you get the chance to be right at the centre of the action - either by cycling along with the crews or acting as a static umpire along the course 
• As a 'thank you' for your time, all umpires are offered a free dinner (including drinks) at a pub the week after Bumps.
• Each Club will have a certain allocation of marshalling to ensure the safe and smooth running of the Bumps. Everyone who volunteers for umpiring by Monday 3 June will count towards this marshal allocation. Trust me: umpiring is a lot more fun than marshalling.

You don't need to have umpired before to sign up. There will be a (hybrid virtual and in person) briefing on the evening of Sunday 9 June for all umpires ahead of racing where we explain everything and all new umpires are paired with a 'senior' one during racing. However, we do ask that you have rowed or coxed in at least 2 sets of bumps (Lents, Mays, or Towns) before so that you understand how the races work.

Please remember that you can both compete and umpire. We suggest you leave two divisions clear before your race and one after to allow you to get to and from the boathouses. The division times are available here: https://www.cucbc.org/mays/times

The umpires briefing will hopefully be in the early evening of Sunday 9 June - exact time and venue TBD - and last about 45 minutes, and I’ll endeavour to distribute a first draft of the umpiring rota before the meeting.

You can sign up here: http://www.cucbc.org/mays/umpires/signup

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at lukeba...@cucbc.org - I will be sorting out the umpires rota etc for this set of Bumps. If anything comes up on the day which may affect your umpiring, please email the entire Committee at comm...@cucbc.org so we can sort out the issue as quickly as possible.

Many thanks,
Luke

*When do I stop including this bit in the email? Most captains probably weren't even here when Bumps was cancelled anymore...